Howden Re Inspire: Meet Cate Cocks

In our Howden Re Inspire series, we are proud to showcase our amazing team.

It's important to us that the businesses and divisions within Howden Re reflect and contribute to the culture that we at Howden are so proud of. We are a global business with an entrepreneurial mindset, and we put our people first in everything we do. We value independent thinkers, celebrate different perspectives and experiences, and strive to make Howden a great place to work.

Our collaborative approach and collective power make us an industry leader, but it's our people who make it possible.

Whether they're forging a unique path in or outside business, leading the way on community impact, giving back, or D&I initiatives, or demonstrating what it takes to make a difference, we are proud to introduce you to our team.

Be inspired by: Cate Cocks (née Kenworthy), Managing Director, Howden Capital Markets & Advisory

Cate Cocks (née Kenworthy) is a Managing Director at Howden Capital Markets & Advisory (HCMA), where she focuses on connecting institutional investors with opportunities across the insurance and reinsurance capital markets.

Having built her career in alternative asset fundraising and investor relations, with roles at firms including Brevan Howard and Securis, Cate joined HCMA in 2023. Since then, she has focused on helping institutional investors better understand the opportunities across the (re)insurance capital markets and expanding participation across the capital stack.

“I love an impossible challenge,” Cate jokes. “And (re)insurance capital markets are exactly that: technically complex, highly specialized, and still under-understood by many investors. What makes the work compelling is that you are not simply presenting an investment opportunity. You are translating a market, helping investors get comfortable with unfamiliar risks, and building conviction through education, transparency, and sustained engagement.

“HCMA felt like the right place to do that work. It combines real ambition with a collaborative team and a clear opportunity to help investors better understand a market that is increasingly relevant, but still often misunderstood.”

Building confidence through education

One of Cate’s most significant contributions has been broadening institutional engagement with (re)insurance as an investable sector. Although many allocators are drawn to its diversification potential, the market can be opaque, technical and difficult to assess through a traditional capital markets lens. Cate addressed this by launching investor roundtables that brought pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, consultants, hedge funds and alternative asset managers together with subject-matter experts, creating a rare forum for peer-to-peer exchange and practical market education.

Held across North America, Europe and the Middle East, the roundtables created a forum for investors at different stages of familiarity with the sector, from those already active to those interested but still building conviction. The discussions helped investors compare perspectives, test assumptions and better understand the market’s risks and opportunities with several participants ultimately moving from interest to investment. The initiative has also earned Cate recognition at the Insurance Insider awards, where she has been shortlisted two years in a row and highly commended this year.

Cate adds: “What investors valued most was the chance to engage with peers in a forum they would not naturally organise themselves. Many were intrigued by (re)insurance, but conscious that it operates differently from traditional capital markets and often speaks its own language. Bringing together investors with different levels of experience, alongside practitioners who could address the technical detail, made the discussion more honest and useful. It gave people space to ask practical questions, compare notes and understand how others were thinking about the opportunity.”

Supporting the next generation

Outside of work, Cate volunteers with Florida Kings Hockey Club, a competitive youth travel ice hockey organisation and registered nonprofit based in Boca Raton, Florida.

Cate’s connection to ice hockey began in London during the COVID lockdown, when her three-year-old son caught only a glimpse of the sport and became instantly obsessed. With ice time hard to come by, the family started with lessons at a mini rink attached to a bowling alley. When they moved to Florida in late 2024, they found a thriving youth hockey scene, her son joined the Florida Kings, and Cate quickly became, as she puts it, a fully converted “hockey mom.

Founded in 2022, Florida Kings is still a young organisation with limited resources and a volunteer-led board. Cate is helping establish the club's first formal tuition assistance programme, building the fundraising strategy and community partnerships needed to ensure dedicated young athletes are not excluded from the sport because of financial hardship.

The programme supports families facing significant challenges, including a single mother undergoing cancer treatment while raising her son, and a goaltender who travels long distances from a lower-income area to participate. Supporting him keeps an entire team of 15 players on the ice who would otherwise be unable to compete without this goalie. 

From the Pool to the Puck

Cate’s own passion for sport began long before ice hockey. Growing up as a competitive swimmer taught her discipline, resilience, and how to stay calm under pressure. Ice hockey, she says, takes those qualities to another level, demanding absolute physical and mental toughness, split-second decision-making, and absolute trust in teammates.

“When you see someone navigating life with energy, optimism, or a calm head during a crisis, you are really just seeing resilience in action,” said Cate. “David Howden often talks about the vital role of resilience, and I believe sport is exactly where that foundation is built.”

For Cate, making ice hockey accessible is about much more than the sport itself. It is about helping young people develop confidence, teamwork, focus, and emotional control, qualities that can shape how they approach challenges far beyond the rink. “Ultimately, it is all about building healthy kids, physically and mentally,” said Cate. “If we can help even one young player develop those same life skills through sport, it is a worthwhile investment.”

Lessons from the rink and the boardroom

Many of the values Cate sees in youth sport are the same qualities she believes contribute to success in business: teamwork, resilience, positive energy, and calm under pressure.

Across both her professional and community work, Cate has focused on making difficult paths more navigable, helping investors build conviction in unfamiliar markets and helping young athletes access opportunities that might otherwise be out of reach.

"What I love about Howden is that it genuinely values the individual. There's an entrepreneurial spirit here that means you're trusted to go and do things your way to build relationships, create new initiatives, try things that haven't been done before. I think that’s really driven by David Howden's infectious enthusiasm and our encouragement to be 'Like No Other'. The culture isn't just something that gets talked about; you feel it in how people show up for each other every day. That makes a real difference,” concluded Cate. 

Learn more about Florida Kings Hockey Club here.